Maxim Group upgraded J. C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) from Hold to Buy with a price target of $27.00 (from $16.50) citing the company's recent change in strategy that we believe will drive traffic back into stores.

Analyst Rick Snyder explains, "CEO Mike Ullman has recently returned to couponing, promoting, and is returning popular private brands to the stores. We believe the abandonment of these strategies and brands was a major reason for the steep decline in traffic in 2012. Our recent channel checks indicate tha2t store traffic has increased since the company has returned to these strategies. Customers have apparently returned to the stores to take advantage of the "up front" markdowns and reintroduction of private brands such as St John's Bay. At its peak, St John's Bay was a $1 billion brand before being virtually eliminated from the stores in 2012."

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